Electron emissive element and display element

Abstract

Electron-emissive drive units of electron-emissive elements capable of being arranged with a smaller pitch. FET and emitter array units exist in matrix element areas partitioned by a control wiring and data wiring. An exemplary unit is composed of four emitter arrays. The control wiring and data wiring are driven by first and second drive circuits, respectively. Corresponding arrays between units are connected by selection wiring and driven by a third drive circuit. The third drive circuit drives each unit of data wiring every time the drive circuit sequentially drives the four units of control wiring, and the emitter array drive circuit drives each emitter array selection wiring every time the drive circuit sequentially drives the three units of data wiring. Electrons can be emitted in units of arrays smaller than the unit.

1. An electron-emissive element, comprising:
 a matrix wiring including first and second wirings for defining a plurality of element areas in a matrix to which predetermined potentials are applied, respectively; 
 switching circuits provided in each element area including switching elements connected to the matrix wiring; 
 emitter array units stacked on the switching circuits in each element area and connected to the switching circuits, said emitter array units including a plurality of emitter arrays having a plurality of microchip emitters for emitting electrons and a gate electrode for extracting the electrons from the microtip emitters; and 
 an emitter array drive circuit for driving the emitter array unit for each emitter array provided at the corresponding locations in each emitter array unit, 
 wherein the switching elements are driven by the matrix wiring to select the emitter array units, and the emitter arrays in the selected emitter array units are selected by the emitter array drive circuit. 
 
     
     
       2. The electron-emissive element according to  claim 1 , wherein the gate electrodes of the emitter arrays provided at the corresponding locations in each emitter array unit are connected in common by a plurality of emitter array selection wiring systems, and
 the emitter array drive circuit drives the plurality of emitter array selection wirings. 
 
     
     
       3. The electron-emissive element according to  claim 1 , further comprising switching electrodes provided in each emitter array unit, wherein the switching electrodes corresponding to each emitter array unit are connected in common by the plurality of emitter array selection wirings, and wherein the emitter array drive circuit drives the plurality of emitter array selection wirings. 
     
     
       4. The electron-emissive element according to  claim 2 , wherein control terminals of the switching elements are connected by a first control wiring of the matrix wiring, one of the input terminal and output terminal of each switching element is connected to the emitter array unit, and the other of the input terminal and output terminal of each switching element is connected to a common fixed potential which is the second wiring of the matrix wiring, the electron-emissive element further comprising:
 a first drive circuit for serially transmitting data is connected to the control wiring; and 
 a second drive circuit for applying a predetermined potential to the other of the input terminal and output terminal of each switching circuit is connected to the fixed potential, 
 wherein control signals are applied to the control terminal of each switching element during one drive cycle to select the emitter array units, and the emitter arrays in the drive cycle are selected by the emitter array drive circuit. 
 
     
     
       5. A display element, comprising:
 a matrix wiring comprising a first and a second wirings for defining a plurality of element areas in a matrix and driven at a predetermined potential; 
 switching circuits provided in each element area including switching elements connected to the matrix wiring; 
 emitter array units stacked on the switching circuits in each element area and connected to the switching circuits, said emitter array units including a plurality of emitter arrays having a plurality of microtip emitters for emitting electrons and a gate electrode for extracting the electrons from the microtip emitters; 
 an emitter array drive circuit for driving the emitter array unit for each emitter array provided at the corresponding locations in each emitter array unit; and 
 anodes disposed opposite to the emitter array units having a certain distance from the emitter array units and a fluorescent material for emitting light upon being bombarded with electrons emitted from the emitters, 
 wherein the switching elements are driven by the matrix wiring to select the emitter array units, the emitter arrays in the selected emitter array units are selected by the emitter array drive circuit, and the electrons emitted from the emitters in the selected emitter arrays bombard the fluorescent material of the anode, thereby emitting light.